Anthony Burns

Anthony Burns (31 May 1834-17 July 1862) was an African-American slave who was arrested in Boston, Massachusetts in 1854 under the Fugitive Slave Act. Abolitionists stormed the Boston courtroom where he was being tried, and Burns would be ransomed from slavery soon after.

Biography
Anthony Burns was born on 31 May 1834 in Stafford County, Virginia, United States into a family of African-American slaves. In 1853, he escaped from slavery in Richmond and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, and he was arrested while walking the streets in 1854. President Franklin Pierce said that this was enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act, while Henry David Thoreau spoke out against slavery; he asked for the people of Massachusetts to disavow their bonds wih the slaveholder and stop passively supporting the policy. Many people were turned against slavery, and abolitionists led by Thomas Wentworth Higginson stormed the Boston courthouse where Burns was being tried. Burns was restrained by police, and he was unable to escape; however, a marshal was killed by the abolitionists. A few years after the trial, Burns' freedom was bought by abolitionists for $1,200, and he became a preacher in British Canada, where slavery was outlawed. Burns died of tuberculosis in 1862.